Mr Nigel Blackaby > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile

A global leader in arbitral disputes, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is noted for its impressive market share of ICSID cases, with a particularly prominent record in complex investment disputes involving Latin American states. Alongside its dominant investor-state practice, the group is also routinely engaged to handle commercial arbitrations, where it is primarily active on behalf of multinational corporations in the energy and natural resources, infrastructure, pharmaceutical, and technology sectors. From Washington DC, Nigel Blackaby co-heads the firm’s Latin America practice and is highly regarded for his expertise in LatAm-related arbitral proceedings, especially mining and energy disputes. Blackaby recently acted alongside Caroline Richard, also in DC, to represent Canada-based Eco Oro Minerals Corporation in bringing a claim against Colombia under the Canada-Colombia Fair Trade Agreement. New York-based Elliot Friedman heads the international arbitration practice in the Americas and advises on major multi-jurisdictional commercial and investment treaty disputes; he is notably representing ConocoPhillips in a series of cases relating to the 2007 expropriation of three major oil investments in Venezuela, one of the largest expropriations in history. Rounding out the senior partners is Buenos Aires- and New York-qualified Noiana Marigo, who co-heads the international arbitration and Latin America groups; she is acting for BBVA in an ICSID arbitration against Bolivia concerning the nationalization of the country’s pension fund administration industry. The group also includes New York-based Thomas Walsh, who was promoted to partner in May 2022.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s global standing in international arbitration is very much in evidence in Latin America, where it has an unrivalled record in investor-state arbitrations over recent years; it typically represents investors against states and state-owned entities. It has represented parties in some of the largest and most high-profile cases to involve the region, notably expropriation and nationalisation-related cases, including representing ConocoPhillips in a series of cases relating to the 2007 expropriation of three major oil investments in Venezuela under then-President Chávez. The firm is active in cases involving parties from across the region and has an array of native Spanish and Portuguese speakers in the team. ‘Brilliant senior practitioner’ Nigel Blackaby KC (in Washington DC) is co-head of the Latin America group alongside Noiana Marigo, who ‘directs the practice in Lat Am in an exceptional way’. Also in Washington DC, Caroline Richard (‘an outstanding international arbitration expert’) is another notable name in investor-state disputes, as is Lee Rovinescu, who was promoted to the partnership in 2020, and is highlighted for mining, energy and natural resources cases, as well as his expertise in damages. Blackaby and Richard (along with Americas practice head Elliot Friedman) are currently co-leading advice to Glencore in the first ever ICSID case against Colombia; while Marigo is acting for the same client in an UNCITRAL case against the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Counsel Natalia Zibibbo (an ‘excellent professional’); DC-based special legal consultant Maria Julia Milesi (who was promoted to counsel in May 2023); and senior associates Santiago Gatica (‘remarkable intelligence, legal knowledge and great capacity for work’), Hinda Rabkin and Madeline Snider (in Madrid), are also noted and further illustrate the practice group’s strength-in-depth. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. Former counsel Alex Wilbraham has left the firm to become an independent arbitrator in January 2023.